Kuiji in the context of "Vasubandhu"

East Asian Yogācāra refers to the Mahayana Buddhist traditions in East Asia which developed out of the Indian Buddhist Yogācāra (lit. "yogic practice") systems (also known as Vijñānavāda, "the doctrine of consciousness" or Cittamātra, "mind-only"). In East Asian Buddhism, this school of Buddhist idealism was known as the "Consciousness-Only school" (traditional Chinese: 唯識宗; ; pinyin: Wéishí-zōng; Japanese pronunciation: Yuishiki-shū; Korean: 유식종).

The 4th-century brothers, Asaṅga and Vasubandhu, are considered the classic founders of Indian Yogacara school. The East Asian tradition developed through the work of numerous Buddhist thinkers working in Chinese. They include Bodhiruci, Ratnamati, Huiguang, Paramārtha, Jingying Huiyuan, Zhiyan, Xuanzang and his students Kuiji, Woncheuk and Dōshō.

Woncheuk (Korean: 원측; MR: Wŏnch'ŭk, c. 613–696) was a Korean Buddhist monk who worked in seventh century China. Woncheuk was a follower of Paramārtha (499–569) and the Shelun school of Yogacara. This school defended the view that there was a ninth consciousness called the "pure consciousness" (amalavijñāna), as opposed to just the eight consciousnesses of classical Yogacara. This position had been rejected by Xuanzang and Kuiji. Woncheuk later became a student of Xuanzang (c. 600–664) and worked in his translation team. Woncheuk's works attempt to reconcile the two traditions of East Asian Yogacara and often diverges from the interpretations of Xuanzang and Kuiji in favor of the views of Paramārtha.

Woncheuk's work was revered throughout China and Korea, even reaching Chinese rulers like Emperors Taizong, Gaozong of Tang and Empress Wu of Zhou. Woncheuk's exegetical work also influenced Tibetan Buddhism and the greater Himalayan region.